Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 5,076 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 13.1%, selling 5,076 shares in the first quarter, leaving it with a total of 33,740 shares valued at approximately $4.72 million.
• Blackstone recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, marking an increase from the previous dividend of $0.93, with an annualized dividend yield of 2.5%.
• Analysts have varied opinions on Blackstone, with price targets ranging from $150 to $197, as the stock currently holds an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $170.12.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 13.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,740 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 5,076 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,716,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 8,522 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,469,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 4,013 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $697,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% during the first quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,819 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,652,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,466 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,460,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 0.7% during the first quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,075 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,539,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone bought 1,189,532 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.22 per share, with a total value of $29,999,997.04. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 4,178,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $105,388,604.62. The trade was a 39.79% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.36, for a total value of $16,736,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 808,757 shares in the company, valued at $135,353,571.52. This trade represents a 11.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE:BX opened at $167.67 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $122.34 billion, a PE ratio of 45.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $154.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $150.59.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 20.83%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be paid a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is 110.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BX shares. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $170.12.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.

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